Process of condensing and treating distillates



R. FLEIVIING.

PROCESS 0F CONDENSING AND TREATINGDISI'ILLATES.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 25. I9I8.

Patented Dec. 23, 1919.

@Hm k1/@noma y I onrrnn s'rxras PATENT osmosi RICHARD ELEIVIJING, OF WESTEIELD, NEW JERSEY, ASSI-GNOR TO THE RICHARD FLEMING COMPANY, A CORPORATION OF DELAWARE.

PROCESS 0E CONDENSING AND v'.l?lltEllJlIIl'Gr DISTILLATES.

Specification of Letters Patent.

ratentea nee, as, rara.

Application led March 25, 1918. Serial No. 224,433.

To all whom it may concern:

e it known that ll, RICHARD FLEMING, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Westeld, in the county of Union and State of New Jersey, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Processes of Condensing and rllreating Distillates, of Which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to treating distillates from petroleum, shale, coal-tar, etc., and has for its obj ect to reduce the time and cost of condensing distillates from still vapor, and also to enable vapor to be simultaneously Washed or treated With solutions With or Without pressure, While being condensed. One purpose of such Washing is to remove sulfur bearing compounds from the distillates either by Washing alone, or by combined Washing and chemical treatment, and thisl invention enables the condensation and Washing to be ,done in one operation, and also enables the pressure to be controlled so as to reduce the amount of permanent gases obtained.

A novel feature of the process resides in condensing still vapor, such as that produced in cracking processes, by means of yWater under pressure, such as by an injector, against a suitable back pressure, the Water, oil and permanent gases then discharging into a tank or tanks for separating the gas, Water and -oil by gravity. p

rll`l1e accompanying drawings show a form of apparatus suitable for carrying out the process, whereinlFigure 1 is an elevation of a form of apparatus, and

Fig. 2 is a modication. c y

1 represents a still having a vapor -l1n 2 leading to a header 3- having a series of air cooled condensing pipes l extending' therefrom and connected to an upper header 5. 6 is a draw od' pipe for the vapor condensed in pipes d, and is preferably connected for cracking under pressure, to the bottom of the still 1, although the vapor condensed in pipes d can be separately collected, if desired. The vapor from a cracking still may issue at a temperature as high as 390 C., and under a pressure up to several hundred pounds per square inch, depending u on thev process employed. The purpose o" the condenser 4t is to condense preferred the heavy or tarry vapor Which is not desired in the distillate, before condensing the desired va por. To this end, the surface of the condenser 4 is proportioned so as to partially cool the vapor, but still keeping it at such temperature as not to condense the lighter oils. lFor gasolene distillates, the condenser 1 will not ordinarily reduce the temperature belovv about 300O C.

The header 5 is connected to a vertical pipe 7, having a safety valve set to maintain the desired still pressure. From pipe 7 a pipe 8 having a control valve 9 leads to a nozzle 10 which is connected to a pipe 11 carrying the condensing a-nd Washing water, or solution of chemicals. 12 is a mixingv passage 'which narrows and then expands, as shown, into a pipe 18 connected to the bottom of a separating tank 14. The tank 14 has a gas outlet l5 at the top controlled by a valve 16 mounted on a hollow float 17 the float and valve being suitably guided so as to open and close the pipe 15 according to the fluid level in tank 111.

F rom the tank 14 a pipe 18 is connected to an elevated separating tank 19, having a Water discharge pipe 20 with vent 21 to pref vent siphon action, and an oil discharge pipe 22 leading to an oil storage tank 23.

Vapor in pipe 8 at a temperature for eX- ample of 300o C. and under a pressure of say seventy-live to one hundred pounds per square inch is discharged from the noz- Zle 10 at very high velocity and entrains the Water or solution supplied by pipe 11, the mixture of vapor and Water occurring in passage 12 from whichit flows at high velocityy into the pipe 13 and thence into tank 14. This not only condenses all of the condensable vapor, but thoroughly Washes it at the same time, thereby removing sulfur and various other impurities carried over by the vapor from the still. 'llhe Water in pipe 11 can also contain chemicals, suchA render insoluble sulfur compounds soluble.

lln either case, the result is to simultaneously condense and desulfuriz'e the vapor 1n a s lngle treatment. rlFhis reduces the cost, simplifes control of the still by reason of quicker condensation, which permits samples to be more quickly obtained, and hence enables a cracking or distillation process to be much more closelyfollovved.

For condensing vapor under pressure, Where'it is desired to maintain a pressure until condensation is complete, such as to prevent excessive loss in permanent gases in condensing vapor from high pressure cracking stills, it is necessary to prevent fall in pressure by the expansion of the vapor before it condenses, and by expansion of the uncondensable gases. The injector herein shown is a simple and efective condensing apparatus for all kinds of oil vapor carrying permanent gases, with pressure during condensation, because by controlling the Water pressure, any desired condensing pressure can be secured. In order to condense under pressure, the Water supply will be under pressure and insuch volume, that although the vapor Will tend to expand after it leaves the nozzle, the Water pressure will maintain the desired pressure'by preventing too much expansion. The Water pressure to prevent expansion of gases and vapor, Whether applied through an injector, or in tanks or pipes, is preferably used in combination with a back pressure producing means beyond the mixing and condensing passage, hereinafter described, Which obtains an economy in Water, but it is to be understood that either can be used Without the other Within the broad scope of'the invention. With an injector, a

Wide range of condensing pressure is obtainable. Also an injector produces a high velocity, with a consequent intimate mixing of gases, vapor and Water or chemicals. It will be .further understood that the vapor line and Water line connections 8, 11, can beV reversed, and that a number of vapor jets can be used with one or more Water connections.

'Ihe mixture entering tank 14 consists of gas, oil and water. The gas rises and fills the inverted cup 17 tending to lift and close the valve 16. When the valve 16 closes, the gas trapped in the tank 14 accumulates sulicient pressure to force the oil and Water through pipe 18 into the elevated tank 19. The tank 19 is elevated at such height as to furnishthe required back pressure in pipe 13 under which condensation is to take place. When a sullicient volume of as has accumulated iny the top of tank 14 with the` valve closed, it forces the liquid into tank 19 sufficiently to cause valve 16 to open,allow ing the accumulated gas to escape to the gas holder connected to pipe 15. The liquid level then rises and'closes the valve, causing the operation to be repeated.

Inasmuch as the wash water is heavier .than the oil it will sink to the bottom of the tank 19 but will be maintainedat a constant level by the top of pipe 20, While the oil on top will ilovv out through the pipe 22 into the oil storage tank 23.

In Fig. 2, instead of using the gas separation tank 14 and the elevated tank 19 to provide the back pressure, the pipe 13 Will be provided with an adjustable relief valve 25, connected to discharge into a separating tank 26 having a gas outlet 27 a sealed oil outlet 28 and a sealed Water outlet 29, the pipes 28 and 29 being so proportioned as to provide the necessary seals and maintain the desired levels of oil and Water.

While the novel process and apparatus is capable of many uses other than those speciied herein, it is especially desirable in connection with the condensing of cracked products which frequently contain more sulfur than is contained in natural light fractions. However, the Washing of vapor simultaneously With condensation is of advantage Whether or not sulfur compounds are present.

The process herein disclosed is applicable Wherever similar conditions are present, and by specifying oil treatment as one example,

I do not limit myself solely to oil, but inf tend to cover other uses Where condensation is to be effected under similar conditions of pressure and temperature. Various modifications and changes in the details herein described may be made Without departing from the scope of the appended claims.

What is claimed, is:

1. 'Ihe process of condensing oil cracking still vapors Which consists in passing such highly heated vapors under cracking pressure into a liquid, While maintaining by the contacting liquid aback pressure suiicient to prevent material expansion and loss in permanent gases While condensing the condensable vapors.` l

2. The process of condensing and treating oil cracking still. vapors which consists in passing such highly heated vapors under cracking pressure into a liquid carrying purifying agents while maintaining b the contacting liquida back pressure s cient to prevent material expansion and loss in permanent gases While condensing and purifying the condensable vapors.

3. The process of condensing and treating oil cracking still vapors which consists in passing such highly heated vapors under cracking pressure into a liquid carrying desulfurizing agents While maintaining by the contacting liquid a back pressure suiiicient to prevent material expansion and loss in permanent gases while condensing and desulfurizing the condensable vapors.

4. The process of condensing oil cracking still vapors which consists in discharging such highly heated vapors under cracking pressure simultaneously with liquid under pressure into a common elongated passage mannen constituting a mining chainher and constricted at the end to produce by the liquid a back pressure sucient to prevent material expansion and loss in permanent gases while condensing the condensable vapors.

5'. The process of condensing and puritying heated hydrocarbon oil vapor which consists in mixing oil vapor under pressure and water under pressure in a common passage, and subjecting the mixture to back pressure sufcient to prevent material expansion during travel through said passage.

6. The process of condenslng oil cracking still vapors which consists in passing such highlyheated vapors through a condenser 15 which condenses heavy constituents, then passing the remaining heated vapors under substantially the cracking pressure into a liquid, while maintaining by the contacting liquid a back pressure suficient to prevent 2o material expansion and loss in the permanent gases while condensing the condensahle va ors.

igned at New York city, in the county of New York and State of New York this 25 23rd day of March, A. D. 1918.

RICHARD FLENHNG. 

